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CASE STUDY: PEACEBUILDING INITIATIVES
The ‘Karabakh Conflict Archive’
DURATION OF THE PROJECT: 9 MONTHS BUDGET: 8.066.450,00 AMD (+/- 14.900,00 EUR) PROJECT PARTNERS: INTERNEWS AZERBAIJAN, MEDIA INITIATIVES CENTER, PUBLIC UNION HUMANITARIAN RESEARCH, STEPANAKERT PRESS CLUB AND SWISSPEACE DONOR: EUROPEAN UNION, CONCILIATION RESOURCES
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The Karabakh Conflict Archive is a non-governmental initiative to create a collection of materials reflecting the history of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The project was implemented by civil society organizations interested in collecting a range of sources that help preserve the memory of how the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict evolved and what people lived through.
The project evolved as a result of four cross-conflict workshops focused on dealing with the past in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict context, between November 2016 and January 2019, supported by the European Partnership for the Peaceful Settlement of the Conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh (EPNK).
The priority of this initiative was to create and preserve digital copies of unique materials from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict context that are in danger of being damaged or lost, thus providing access to diverse and more inclusive sources of information. The archival collation prioritised the years from 1988 to 1990, with a specific focus on the personal archives of missing persons’ families. The archive includes documents, photo and audio-visual materials.
Rethinking-Cooperating-Sharing
DURATION OF THE PROJECT: 3 YEARS BUDGET: THE BUDGET OF THE PROJECT IS NOT AT THE DISPOSAL OF PEACE DIALOGUE NGO PROJECT PARTNERS: OFAJ (FRANCE), ASSOCIATION “UNE TERRE CULTURELLE” (FRANCE), CENTRE FRANÇAIS DE BERLIN (GERMANY), AFS ISTANBUL (TURKEY) DONOR: ERASMUS+ YOUTH AND SPORT CENTER, FRANCE AND THE FRENCH-GERMAN YOUTH OFFICE
The four-national exchange project launched in November, 2017 in Marseille, France with the involvement of 24 young people aged 18-25, representing France, Germany, Turkey, and Armenia. The group met each other in 4 project countries with the aim of reconsidering their views on history and their perceptions of “others”, cooperat-
ing, and creating a joint vision of future. In 2018, the group of young people met in Armenia where they were welcomed by Peace Dialogue NGO. The next meeting took place in Berlin. In 2019, the project participants met each other in Istanbul, Turkey.
“It seems that the situation is not going to improve in the near future. Actually, we live in a period when our societies tend to isolate and nationalistic thoughts and ide-
ologies are spreading at a high speed,” said David Diancourt, one of the participants of the project during the visit to Armenia.
“This is predominantly why it was vital for young students and volunteers from the mentioned four countries to meet with the common objective of overcoming this de-
...It was vital for young ”students and volunteers from the mentioned four countries to meet with the common objective of overcoming this deplorable situation and establishing sound communication and cooperation between young people of these countries... David Diancourt, a French participant of the project. ...We need to maintain a healthy level of curiosity for what we read on our newsfeed, understand how social media platforms curate what we see, and use investigative practices more often... Gor Muradyan, a participant of the project from Gyumri.
plorable situation and establishing sound communication and cooperation between young people of these countries”, he said.
DURATION OF THE PROJECT: 3 MONTHS BUDGET: THE BUDGET OF THE PROJECT IS NOT AT THE DISPOSAL OF PEACE DIALOGUE NGO PROJECT PARTNERS: UNE TERRE CULTURELLE (FRANCE) ASSOCIATION AND GERMAN-FRENCH YOUTH OFFICE (GERMANY)
In July, 2020, Peace Dialogue NGO, in collaboration with its partners Une Terre Culturelle association and German-French Youth Office, launched an initiative entitled Journalism without Borders which was aimed at the promotion of youth participation in social-political decision-making process through applying democratic instruments.
In the scope of the project, three national groups consisting of 16-25 year old young people interested in journalism and representing Armenia, Germany, and France were formed. During the exchange project, the young participants gained knowledge about the development history of journalism, discussed various issues existing in the digital world, such as fake news and propaganda.
“Fake news on social media may be unavoidable. But we can help to stop the spread of fake news by thinking critically. We need to maintain a healthy level of curiosity for what we read on our newsfeed, understand how social media platforms curate what we see, and use investigative
practices more often,” said Gor Muradyan, a participant of the project from Gyumri.
30 young participants of the project from Armenia, Germany, and France prepared photo and video materials and did a number of practical exercises as a future journalist. Afterwards, the national teams presented each other the work they have done and exchanged their materials and ideas.
The young people had also an opportunity to get acquainted with the cultures and cuisine of the three countries, learn new phrases in foreign languages through language animation and get-to-know-eachother games, as well as talk about their hobbies and various interesting facts about themselves and their surroundings.
CONTACT 2.0: Equipping Youth from Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Affected Area with Social-Media Skills
DURATION OF THE PROJECT: 3 YEARS (ONGOING) BUDGET FOR 2020: 21.726.356,00 AMD (+/- 38.238,39 EUR) PROJECT PARTNER: PROJECT’S PARTNER – OWEN – MOBILE AKADEMIE FÜR GESCHLECHTERDEMOKRATIE UND FRIEDENSFÖRDERUNG E.V. DONOR: ZIVIK (CIVIL CONFLICT RESOLUTION) PROGRAMME OF THE INSTITUTE FOR FOREIGN CULTURAL RELATIONS (IFA) WITH FINANCIAL MEANS OF THE GERMAN FEDERAL FOREIGN OFFICE
In September, 2020 Peace Dialogue NGO and its German partner, OWEN e.V. launched an initiative called CONTACT 2.0: Equipping
young people from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict-affected area with social media
skills to reframe prospects for peace. This is a three-year initiative aimed at contributing to conflict transformation efforts in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. The CONTACT 2.0 project intended to develop a safe platform for young people to start a dialogue on human rights-related challenges in their respective contexts including discrimination (gender-based and other forms), violence, identity, acceptance of diversity and tolerance towards “others”.
Moreover, the project intended to empower young people and equip them with capacities and skills in using new social media tools for engaging their peers and fostering inter-societal dialogue on the impacts of war, radicalization, nationalism and militarism.
After the violent war in the region in September-October, 2020, the team has been actively making an effort to re-design the project activities in order to best fit the priorities and interests of vulnerable groups the most affected as a result of the conflict. In November-December period 4 focus group discussions were organized with the identified groups of people displaced from the NK during the war, aimed at studying the needs and concerns of their families.
OVERVIEW OF PROJECTS FOR 2019-2020
INVOLVING AND EMPOWERING LOCAL COMMUNITIES
TRAINING NEXT-GENERATION CIVIC JOURNALISTS IN NORTHERN ARMENIA AS FUTURE DEMOCRACY WATCHDOGS DEVELOPING CAPACITIES FOR WOMEN FOCUSED NETWORKS IN THE SOUTHERN CAUCASUS
SERIES OF TRAININGS ON CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE FROM LORI REGION
